Improvement in devices for sealing preserve-cans



H. H. ELLIOT. EXHAUSTING AND SEALING APPARATUS.-

'No. 13,291. Patented July 17, 1855.

UNITED STATES PATENT, OFFICE; I,

w. n. nniiro'r, on'rLAT'rsnUnG, NnwYonK.

IMPROVEMENT n: DEVICES FOR SEALING PRESERVE-CANS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 13,291., dated July 17,1855:

To all whom, it may concern: Be it known that I, \V. H. ELLIOT, of Plattsburg, county of Clinton, State of New York, haveinvented a new and Improved Mode of Exhausting and Seali n g lreserve Gan-- istcrs and Bottles; andldohereby declare that the. following is a full and exact description thereof. v V

' The nature of my invention consists in removing watcr or other liquid from preservebottles for the purpose of producing a more perfect vacuum than can be obtained by other means, said liquid being placed in such connection with a vacuum'in the pump that it j will fall by its own weight from the bottleinto said vacuum, leaving a perfect vacuum in the bottle, and in the combination of certain devices which, with or without a liquid in the 'bottle'or vessel to be exhausted, may be used "toexhaust the same; and myinveiition further ei'msists'of a device by which the-liquid afterv it leaves the bottle is made to assist in sealing the bottle, said device consisting-of a plug-or pl unger for carry-i n g s'ea-l and thetube and said seal to its place.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed-to de scribe its construction and operation, reference being had'to the accompanying drawings and the lett-crs 'ot' reference marked thereon, the same letters indicating the same-part in each;

fi'gurel 7 Figure l is an isometrieal drawing of a diaphrngnrpump; a,the cylinder; b,'tliem ou-thof the pump; a c,'tlie frame; (I, the lever; 1*,[the neck. I y I Fig. 2 is'a perpendicular section of a diaphragm-pump, showing the sealing apparatus in the neck, with a part of a bottle having a .metallic tubular stopper i-n'itsmouth, and the tube of the stopper placed in the mouth of the pump, as when used; c, the diaphragm f, the, piston, which is in two, parts, and secured-to: gether upon the inner edge of the diaphragm,

so as to make an air-tight joint; 9 g, bolts whichiiisten thecyli nder to theframc. Between the cylinder and the frame the outer edge of the diaphragm is secured, as the inner, the only inlet or outlet to the pump, is its month, there being novalve in'it.

Fl 3 is a sealingdevice; j, a steel tube which- SGrves for cutting out the plug, and fol-placing sa-id plug in'thestoppcrofthe1iottle; h,-theplnnger, which is held against the plug 1' by spiral spring 0. The plunger,- steel tube, and plug are thrown a little way out of the mouth of the pump when at liberty by the spring; but when the tube k of the stopper 1) is placed in the mouth of the pump the plunger, together with the steel tube containing the plug, is depressed, as seen in Fig. 2. The lever in the figures is depressed, but when raised the piston and diaphragm occupy nearly the whole of the'cylinder. p

The operation of exhansting and sealing with this apparatus is done in the following manner: Take a bottle and pack it full of fill the bottle nearly to the shoulderwithin a; metallic tubular stopper in the' bottle and seal around itsedges' with some suitable wax.

L'with the liquid, so that no air remains, in it.- Then raisc the' lever of the pump and fill the remaining space in the cylinder and neck with the liquid. Both the pump and the bot tlebeing now perfectly filled," place the tube" of the stopper in the month of the pump and press it gently down upon the india-rubber lining a,"so as to insure an air-tight conned -tion. ,f-Then place one ioot npon'the end -of the leverand depress it. This opens a large vacuum withinthe cylinder of the pump,

This vacuum must be perfect, or nearly so, because no air was in the bottle or the-pump when the operation commenced. The water,

iu'fpassing from the bottle, follows the direc" ,tion of the arrows'in Fig. 3. It first passes througlrthe tube of the stopper 'into thesteel tube, then through the openings in the sides of the steel tube into theneclr. of the pump,

cylinder, and when the bottle is properly drained thelever issuddenly allowed torise, when the liquidr-ushes up the neelc of the pump,- striking the plunger with considerarary seal, which isafterward made permanent by wax or solder.

tinuous opening, which is insured bythe steel fruit or any preservable substance, and then the mouth with water. or other liquid, place The bottle should thenbe completely-filled into which the'water runsfrOm the bottle by 1 its own weight, leaving a vacuum in its placeL-j through openings in the plunger intothe bleforce; driving the plugiinto the tube-of the stopper, thus forming a perfect tempo-= v The steel tube and." the tube of the stopper form a perfectly con-v tube being receiv'cd a little way into the up, animal substance in brine, &c.

mouth of the stopper-tube, and held there by the spiral spring. r The plug is made lay-taking a slice of potato or other suitable material of a proper thickness. The lower end (if-the steel'tube is, then pressed through it, which cuts out and retains a plug exactly'suited to the purpose. The plug is then pushed up to the openings in the steel tube, which may then .be

cases as will have none but a decidedly pre- V servative influence.

. It is well known that brandy preserves peaches, as well as nearly all. .kinds of fruit.

All kinds of fruit are preserved also in sir- Any of these liquids may servefor the purpose of exhausting in their. proper place. The quantity of liquid left in the bottle after exhausting must always be so small as not to affect the taste of the preserve in the slightest degree, and consequently. can have but one influence upon it, and that a preservative one. In case any difficulty arises in this respect, the j nice of the fruit itself may always be safely relied on for this purpose.

The tube 7.: in the stopper should be slight] y tapering, its inner end being the smaller, so that the plug 2' may easily enter the tube, but

require more force than the weight of the atmosphere to drive it through the tube into the .bottle. v

It has been found by experiment thatatube which contracts one-eighth of its diameter at its inner end when plugged with fresh potato will resist a force equal to not'l'ess than ten nor more than sixteen atmospheres, so that no .difliculty needbe apprehended from the pressure of the atmosphere if the tube be immediately se aled with wax after leaving the pump.

A' very convenient -way of sealing these tubular stoppers is'by placing over the end of the tubea metallic cap with wax under it.

Among the devices employed in this process and mentioned in the following claim, the liquid used in exhausting and the force viz., -gravitymade use of for removing the liquid from the bottle, are considered of great importance in the production of a vacuum by this process.

Among the important features'of the exhausting apparatus may be considered the peculiar combination and arrangement of the le ver 01, the cylinder or chamber, with its elastic bottom or diaphragm, the orifice serving both as ingress and egress, with its elastic or -hold upon the glass.

yielding lining, and the liquidused within the chamber for the purpose of expelling. the air.

Among those-of the'sealingdcvices may also exhaustion is'eompleted is carried to its place in the'stopper'by the plunger h, so as to seal the exhausted "vessel, said plunger being operated-by the reactionary motion of the exhausting devices, by a lever, or by any mechanism applied-for the purpose.

' The peculiar form of the plug .or seal represented in the drawings is not necessary to success. A cap of the same'or any yielding material may be carriedby the plunger or its equivalent device and placed upon the end-of the tubular stopper 1). The steel tubej, which cuts out the plug and holds it upon the end of-plunger' h, may be dispensed with and the plug held by ,oth'ermeans. The stopper may be so constructed as to retain the plug at one point and let the fluid or liquid contained in the bottle pass out by it; and when exhaustion; is completed it may be-driven farther into the stopper by the plunger, to where it fills the.

tube of the stopper perfectly, and so-seal the bottle, thus makingthe'stopper serve one of the purposes .for which the tube is used; but

the simplest of allthese equivalent devices are those which are represented iu'the drawings. The slots or openings'in the side of the steel tube j, through which the fluid passes from; the bottleto'the exhausting-chamber, may,

however, be dispensed with, and the tube still used with equal advantage by removing the spring 0 below the plunger h, so that the plunger, tube, and plug may all drop down out -of the way, so as to leave the tube is of the.

sto'pp 'o en during exhaustion. Tl1e11 the plunger is caused to rise, the tube j and plugare carried uplwith it till the tube comes in contact with the stopper 'an'dstops; but the plunger, continuing its motion, carries the plug i:out'of the tube into the tube 70 of thejstopper, audthus-seals the vessel.

Byconstructing the bottles with a groove to receive the edge of. the stopper, instead of" a shoulder, the wax or-cement may be melted and poured into'the groove while the bottle is heated, which would give the cement afirnier The stopper may then beset into its place.

In certain cases it may be necessary to use a perforated plate, insteadot"projections, on 7 the inside of the stopper 1), to preventthe contents of the bottle from stoppingup. the tube v is during the process of exhaustion.

"Having described my invention, I claim.

The use of the plug '5, or its. equivalent, in seal-in g exhausted vessels, with or without the tube j, in connection with the plunger 71, or

its equivalent, operating inthc manner herein set forth.

Witnesses:

B. K. M ORSELL, JOHN T. BALL.

w. H. ELLIOT. 

